Lampung hosts 18th TIME 2012

9 August 2012

The 18th. Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) or Pasar Wisata Indonesia 2012 will, for the second year running take place in Bandar Lampung, capital of Lampung Province in the southern part of Sumatra from 9 – 12 October 2012 at the Graha Wangsa.

TIME will be held in conjunction with the Krakatau Festival, Lampung’s most important annual event.

Lampung is lacated west of Jakarta on the island of Sumatra across the Sunda Strait where lies the still active remains of the once mighty Krakatau volcano, now better known as Anak Krakatau – or Child of Krakatau in the Ujung Kulon – Krakatau National Park. Lampung is also sanctuary to the Sumatran elephants as well as the Sumatran rhinoceros in its extensive Way Kambas National Park. Lampung is also loved for its surf and white sand beaches, besides its beautiful woven handicrafts.

Chairperson of TIME 2012 Steering Committee, Meity Robot, said “TIME is the only international contractual travel mart in Indonesia with a direct business to business concept. The event is a meeting place for those who sell tourism products and services of Indonesia (sellers) to the international market (buyers). TIME is Indonesia’s only mart listed in the calendar of international travel marts together with ITB Berlin, WTM London, Arabian Travel Mart (ATM), PATA Travel Mart, and other similar world prestigious events. TIME 2012 will present all Indonesia’s tourist destinations, including popular and newly discovered travel destinations, tourism objects, and new product developments,” Meity continued.

TIME 2011 attracted 77 buyers from 27 countries, with top five buyer countries from the Netherlands, India, Singapore, USA, Indonesia, Korea, and Singapore. TIME 2011 also attracted a total of 84 sellers from 64 companies from various provinces in Indonesia, dominated by Jakarta, Bali, Central Java, Yogyakarta, West Java, East Java, Lampung, North Sumatera, Central Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara.

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The percentage share of sellers based on industry were Hotels, Resorts & Spa (75%), NTOs (10%), Tour Operators/Travel Agents (7%), Adventure/Activity Holidays (3%), Airlines (1.5%), and others (Hotel Management, Tourism Board, Tourism Organizations & Travel Portals (8.5%). TIME 2011 has booked an estimated USD 15.7 million in transactions, a decrease of approximately 10% compared to last year’s TIME in Lombok, West Nusa Teggara.

Despite the decrease, we saw new buyers attending TIME last year. They were from Slovakia, Mexico, Czech Republic, The Phillippines, and Thailand. Furthermore, we also saw that almost fifty percent of sellers attending TIME last year were first timers, including sellers from the Lampung province itself” Meity concluded.

Organized by the Indonesian Tourism Council (MPI), TIME 2012 is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, the Provincial Government of Lampung, and the travel and tourism industry in Indonesia, namely Garuda Indonesia as Official Airline, Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) Lampung, Indonesian Conference and Convention Association (INCCA), Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Lampung, and Pacto Convex as the event organizer. TIME 2012 is also supported by national and international media.